The Outsiders Through Thick'n'thin
by HorseLover200
Summary: Darry was currently arrested, sending Ponyboy and Sodapop to a Boys' home. But, that's not the only problems the Greasers have to deal with in this awesome fic. Read on...to find out. Also, give credit to the wonderful ladies: xTheArcher(JamBam) and MusicLover500(Han) who helped me with this beautiful story. ;D


Arin walked down the road, a light skip in her step as she did this, both pockets full. One had a nice, full pack of cancer sticks, and the other held the pack of sticks she'd been holding for Dante. Dante didn't have a full liking for Arin, but he had known she could be trusted with his precious Kool's cigs. Arin, today, happened to be looking for Dorothy, one of her best friends in the Greaser gang. Though Dorothy wasn't actually a real Greaser, since she was more of a Brumley, but Arin still hung around with her on occasion. She was wearing her usual outfit, red t-shirt and ripped jeans (a slight fade sorted in), and black and pink tennis shoes. A switch-blade was being held in the back pocket of her jeans, and she was ready for any Soc who had the right mind to mess with her.

There was a wild humming noise at the street corner. It soon turned vicious. In fact, it turned so vicious; one could compare the troublesome noise to that of quarreling lions. That or Dorothy's beat up pick-up truck. It took a lot of gas. Then again, the vehicle was pretty big, so it being a gas guzzler was predictable. After seeing a cloud of pollution barreling behind the tailgate, it had been confirmed. That was her truck, as nasty as ever. Absolutely no one knew when she'd get a new one.

Dorothy lifted her foot off of the gas. The truck made a nasty sound as it skidded to a stop, right in front of Arin, a short; skinny girl who could very pass for a teenage boy if it hadn't of been for her hair. Her black hair flipped pleasantly at the ends, and came down just above her shoulder blades. Admittedly, Dorothy envied her. Just not as much as she did Marilyn Monroe. Now, _she _was a beautiful woman!

"Do you need a ride?" Dorothy's voice sounded from inside the truck as she had cranked the window down just enough so Arin would be able to hear her. Turning that crank became really tiresome, and Dorothy didn't have the strongest of arms.

Arin's head jerked to the sound of Dorothy's voice from the truck. She hadn't, honestly, recognized the truck and Dorothy speaking from it surprised her. She gave a big smile and nodded her head, crawling into the passenger side of the truck. Glancing at Dorothy, she waited for her to press the gas pedal and make the creaking truck trek on, intimidating and loud as it was, Arin actually adored the truck. She had never had a car, so maybe that was the reason, but she thought it was real tuff. Running a hand through her multi-colored hair, she looked over at Dorothy again, smiling brightly and warmly.

"So, what're you up to today?" She asked her friend, flicking out a cigarette and lighting it. She left the window down on her side, so the smoke could filter out of the truck, instead of steadying itself in the small cab. Arin had used one of Dante's smokes, but she thought he wouldn't mind, as long as she did something to pay him back for it. As she waited for the reply of the other in the car, she stared out the window, watching houses and few trees as they passed them. Preferring to walk most of the time, Arin wasn't used to riding and the fast pace in which the landscape passed her and she was vaguely fascinated by this, but most of her concentration was set on Dorothy and the cigarette she held in her mouth.

Dorothy coughed. She couldn't help it. Although she lived in a grease neighborhood, she wasn't quite used to cigarette smoke in her lungs like everyone else was. Unlike the others, her parents realized the consequences of smoking and drinking and refused to have any of that in their household. Dorothy would never tell, but once she had seen her father with a beer bottle pressed up against his lips. He had told Dorothy not to tell her mother, so she didn't. That was that. He was a big, burly man, and Dorothy didn't really want to mess around with him too much even if she was his daughter.

"I'm just going to the DX station," Dorothy stated. The truck swerved around a street corner. "I'm low on gas again..."

Sure, Dorothy's truck was always low on gasoline, but going to the DX station instead of a Texaco or a station closer to her home was partly because she wanted to see Sodapop Curtis. He was really popular with the ladies, mostly because of his looks. Steve was, too, but not as much as Soda. Dorothy was just like the other girls in that sense. She thought Soda was handsome just like Elvis Presley or James Dean, but Dorothy also admired his personality. He was outgoing and friendly towards everyone. She wished she could be that way.

It didn't take too long to pull up into the station, but when they'd made it, Dorothy was surprised to see that there wasn't the usual crowd of girls there. Soda wasn't in his usual spot out front, waiting for vehicles to fill up or tend to. Instead, Steve was in the garage, working on a car.

Dorothy turned to Arin. "...Where's Soda at, do you think?" There was genuine concern in her voice. She didn't mean for there to be. It just crept into her tone.

Arin noticed Dorothy's coughing and she immediately tossed the smoke from the window, cranking it up when the smoke had cleared. Arin didn't really have anybody at home who cared enough to tell her not to smoke or drink, which wasn't really her thing anyway. That's why she got along with Johnny so well. They could relate with the whole family thing, because they both had pretty bad home lives. She idolizes Dally, not in a crush way, but an older brother way, because he's so...strong. He may not have much emotion, but she really did admire him.

Arin watched the gas station for a minute, her gaze flickering everything when the girl beside her parked the truck. Her eyes landed on Steve Randall for a few moments as well, smiling lightly but soon she switched her gaze towards Dorothy, shrugging once and pursing her lips just a little.

"I dunno." She answered her friend, turning away and her hand grabbing the truck door. "Maybe Steve knows," She added afterwards, flipping the handle up and sliding out of the old truck's seat. Glancing through the closed window at Dorothy, she raised an eyebrow impatiently, waving her along, telling her to hurry up basically. After doing this gesture, she turned and strode towards Steve in the garage, leaning against the wall in the garage and watching him for a second.

"So, uh, where's Soda?" She asked him.

Steve stood leaning against the garage wall, talking to Elise, when he heard footsteps. He turned around and saw Arin and Dorothy. He took a deep breath before answering. "Soda's not working here anymore. Somehow, Darry got arrested, and now Pony and Soda are in a boys' home." He explained, watching their faces for their reactions.

Arin watched his face for a moment, trying to tell if he was lying or not, and trying to hide the shock, hurt, anger, and sadness creeping into her emotions. How could this have happened? Soda and Pony had always been able to stay out of the home. They'd always managed to keep themselves with the Greasers. _Where would they go now? Where would they live now? Would the Greasers and friends ever see the two again?_ All those questions were racing through her mind as she stared at Steve's expression. He was lying, she knew he was. He _had _to be lying. This couldn't be right! She felt her hands start trembling and she pointed a finger at Steve, narrowing her eyes with anger.

"No! You're lying, Steve! Seriously, where is he?!" She snapped her face reddening as she yelled at the older boy, still shaking in her hands and her mouth turned into a sharp frown. She was obviously angry, and refusing to believe what Steve said. Sure, she liked Steve more than any of the others, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let him lie to her and think it was funny. She _knew _Pony and Soda couldn't be in a boy's home. Darry was to careful. Pony was to careful. Soda was to careful. She refused to believe it.

_They aren't in boys' home. They aren't. I know they aren't. Steve is being a jerk and messing with us. He's trying to make us mad. Or make us furious. _She thought about this for a moment, and her eyes narrowed even more at the possibilities. _Well it's working real good._ She added to herself in her head, glaring hard at Steve, her glare could've turned someone into a burning flame if she concentrated enough, it seemed.

"There wasn't nothin' I could do!" Steve shouted right back at her. His heartbeat expedited. He was ready to hurt her if need be. Steve eventually calmed down. A heavy sigh sounded from his throat as he wiped perspiration from his forehead. It was hot, and she had made him think about Soda again. Soda, Pony, even Darry; he didn't know when the rest of the gang would be able to see them again. Darry was in jail for who knows what. Soda and Pony were already on their way to the boy's home. There was no way anyone would be able to get them back, no matter how hard they tried.

"I told you, Soda's goin' to the boy's home. So is Pony. Darry is in jail. Don't you ever listen?" He wasn't always the meanest of guys, but that had just gotten him riled up. Deciding he needed to calm down, Steve violently hit the wall on his way inside the gas station, just to relieve some steam. Steve felt awful about shouting at those girls. He'd never been as foul when Soda was around.

Dorothy furrowed her brow. How could that happen? She bit her lip harshly, leaving a prominent scarlet lipstick stain on her teeth. There wasn't much she could say or do.

It was quiet for a long, long while. Nobody had anything to say on the matter. The fact that the Curtis' were gone had hit home-hard. The gang just wasn't going to be the same without them there.

Arin watched him walk off, startled by his reaction and wincing back when he yelled. She watched the door of the DX, even after he had disappeared in the store, out of sight. She felt like crying, or fainting, or something. Something that could make her more steady on her feet. Arin was dizzy, and she fell back on a bench in the garage, staring at the ground. Her hair fell into her face, and she let out a long, soft sigh. Obviously, processing this was pretty hard for her. Pony was one of her best friends. One of the best she had...ever had really. Closing her eyes, she clenched her fists and tightened her jaw, glaring hard at the concrete under her feet.

"Dammit!" She hissed, standing up and kicking the bench she had been standing on. She stared at the ground until she had calmed down, only slightly, and stormed out of the garage towards Dorothy's truck and climbed in without saying anything to anyone else in the garage. She couldn't, or she'd make them all mad at her with her temper.

Elise stared at the door where Steve had disappeared, scarcely believing what she had just heard. She was barely aware of Arin storming out of the garage and towards Dorothy's truck, as she was still in shock. _There's no way in hell this is happening. _She told herself over and over, refusing to believe they were gone. It took a few minutes for it to really sink in, and when it did she found herself slowly sliding down the garage wall.

She felt numb; Darry had been one of her best friends back in school, and was still a friend to this day. She shut her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, everything would be back to normal. It wasn't. She took in a shaky breath and willed herself to keep it together; this day had just gotten even worse than it had at the start.

From inside the DX station, Steve's aimless rummaging was heard well. That was the only sound there was aside from steady breathing. Dorothy hadn't moved a muscle, unlike the other two girls there. She was in shock, too. Everybody at the station was.

Steve walked back outside, letting the door close behind him when he did. He sighed, hoping he was calmed down. Adjusting his stonewashed vest, he slowly advanced along towards the truck where Arin sat.

"Look," he started. "...I'm sorry. I just... I don't know what to do. Not like there's much to, anyway." Near the end, Steve's voice cracked a little and he teared up, but he had turned away from Arin and the other girls just in time. If anything, he was going to keep from looking like a bawl-baby in front of girls, no matter who they were. With a shaky breath, Steve shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "We could always try and get 'em back, you know. But I can't do that. None of us can. Even Dally won't be able to do something as risky as bustin' somebody out of a boy's home, much less a jail."

Dorothy turned to face Steve. She ushered Elise to stand up, too. Dorothy wasn't too bright, but she'd read enough fiction novels to be gallant in this situation. Well, she wouldn't be the gallant one. The others would be.

"Steve, there's gotta be somethin' we can do! Y'all can't go on without 'em," she said.

It was true. Pony, Soda and Darry had all gotten jumped. Darry was a great fighter, but there had been way too many soc's than all three of them could fight off. Beaten up and bruised, each had been sent to the hospital. The nurse wouldn't allow visitors no matter what, so the gang wasn't able to see them. Everything had fallen downhill from there. Thankfully, the three were released after treatments and were as well as they were before. There was the occasional fuss, but that was all.

Arin watched Steve as he spoke, but she couldn't think of anything to say. What was there to say at all, really? What was there to do? Who would be able to help them? No one. That was right, too. No one could help them. Their parents, the ones who cared, their siblings. Their buddies. Even a rumble couldn't fix everyone's feelings. Arin felt rage explode inside of her and she slammed her fist on Dorothy's truck door, glaring and turning in the seat to stare out the front window of the truck. She was trying to think. Think of something, _anything_, they could do to get their friends back.

"Dorothy!" She yelped, suddenly scrambling from the truck and standing in front of Dorothy. She stared up at her, being shorter than pretty much the whole gang, and smiled like Dorothy was the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen. She had an idea, yes she did.

"What if your parents...what if they like...adopted Soda and Pony or something? That's what happens in a boys' home, right? The kids get put up for adoption and stuff. Well, what if your parents got them?" She asked, eagerly, desperately. She didn't know what a boys' home was, and she didn't know what it was set up to be like. She was pretty sure it was like adoption. She'd heard Pony talk about it and being under a new roof. Well, that must mean being in a different house. Being adopted to a different family. Or, maybe she had been mistaken. She sure hoped she didn't. She didn't want to make herself look stupid in front of Ellie and Steve, especially not Steve, whom she looked up to more than anyone else in the whole gang. That's why it had hit her so hard when he'd yelled at her a moment ago.

She stared at everyone else, waiting for a response. Any response. Anything at all that she could get something from. Happiness, excitement, or even disappointment. Silence wasn't Arin's thing, never had been and she knew never would be.

"That's not what a boy's home is..." Steve grumbled, pacing back and forth beside the station. He racked his mind. Just racked it and racked it, thinking of something that they could do. Anything. But nothing became evident to him. They were screwed. Screwed!

Dorothy's brow tightened. "I really wish we could." Oh, how she wished Pony and Soda had been sent to some sort of adoption center. If they had, she would have begged and begged her parents to take them out. After a while, she was sure they would have. But things had gone too far and they couldn't.

Steve buried a hand in his hair, squeezing clumps of it as if he were about to pull it out. Hair grease blemished his already stained hands, but he didn't care. Steve just wanted to find a way they could get the guys back. Soda was important to him. They'd been friends forever, and he wasn't about to give him up.

"What about you?" He asked, staring at Elise once he had finally stopped moving. "Do _you _have any ideas to get 'em out?" Once again, Steve was starting to get riled up. He could only take so much of this at a time.

Even though she knew what a boys' home was, it still hurt like hell to know that there was nothing, absolutely nothing they could do for Pony or Soda, two people she had grown up with. She knew giving up was not an option, so she racked her brain for any tidbit that could form into a plan.

She had finally come up with one when Steve finally stopped pacing, though she didn't really like it. But they were family, and you do whatever you have to for family. "Well... we could always attempt to break them out." She said, looking at everyone's faces for a reaction of some kind.

Arin turned to Elise hopefully, eyes wide with hope. She needed Ponyboy out. Johnny, Ponyboy, and she were each other's lives, basically. They had to have each other to be happy. Because...they were just that good of friends. Arin and Johnny had so much in common, while Ponyboy could relate by not having parents at all. It was just a thing that made friends...friends. Arin guessed she liked Johnny a lot more than Pony, but she was still real good buds with Ponyboy. Both of the boys she called brothers, all the time. They went places together, they were her brothers. To any stranger, her good ole brothers.

When Elise voiced her idea, Arin felt her insides erupt into flames and she balled up her firsts in anger.

"Ellie! We can't do that! Then _we'll _be taken care of. JAIL!" She snipped, not in a yelling tone but more of a bitter one.

Once again, silence resurfaced. Steve was the one to break through this time around.

"You know," he started, leaning against the gas station wall for further support. "...I think that might just be our only chance. Breakin' 'em out, I mean. If we do it right, the fuzz won't ever know it was us."

"The Fuzz won't know what was us?"

Two-Bit Mathews squeezed between two gas pumps as a shortcut to the group. He had an empty, glass bottle of Pepsi in one hand. The other was used to scratch a sideburn; it'd been bothering him more than usual lately.

Deciding that a reply was unnecessary in this case, Two-Bit spoke, "Where's Soda? He wasn't at the house, either. Neither was Ponyboy." His concern for Darry was out of the way. The guy was always at work anyway, so him not being in the Curtis household wasn't a rare thing. Two-Bit didn't have a worry in the world about Darry. He'd be perfectly fine regardless of the circumstances.

Steve only grunted and went inside again. He didn't want to lose his cool right now. Maybe a smoke would help him. He went up to Arin who he knew always had a few packs on her. "Got a cig?" He asked. Once she had given him one, Steve made his way towards the curb, away from the gas pumps and the others.

Arin took out, yet another cigarette, not getting enough of the stuff in the times of stress she was having. She flicked open her lighter and lit her cigarette quickly, shoving her lighter back into her back pocket and breathing in her cigarette like it was air. She closed her eyes, leaning back against Dorothy's truck and breathing out a breath of smoke. She couldn't handle all this stress. If she couldn't see her friends soon, she'd have a total breakdown. Her eyes widened slightly and she glared at everyone around her. She didn't need them. She barely knew any of them. They were just same old Greasers, and a Brumley. Not her best buds. Not like Johnny, or Ponyboy. She needed those two right now. And if she couldn't have Pony and Johnny both, she could at least have Johnny. She pushed away from Dorothy's truck and huffed.

"Where's' Johnny today. I wanna talk to him." She demanded, taking another long breath of her cigarette and blowing out a smoke ring. She looked over at Steve, who had made it back to the gas station moments earlier, and huffed. He looked 'bout just as bad as she was herself, and she had to resist the urge to just...hug him. She knew Steve wouldn't like that. Steve barely liked Arin, really. She hung out with Pony, and Pony wasn't on Steve's best bud list. Even though Arin admired Steve, a lot really, she knew he didn't like her more than to get a cigarette every once in a while. Well, that's what she thought. Steve looked back at Arin for a moment, and then his gaze trailed around everyone else at the gas station.

"What? You look like you seen a ghost or something," Two-bit said from a gas pump a few feet away from Dorothy. He looked quite shaken himself, hearing the news and all, but he was being good ole Two-bit. Not a thing can bring him down. Bright side to everything. _Not this time, bright faced asshole._ Arin thought to herself, glaring at Two-bit before changing her gaze over to Steve, who coughed and glared at Two-bit himself. After a moment of silence after Two-bit's words, Steve broke the silence.

"I have a plan on how to get them out," He said to them, looking a bit nervous. If they didn't like his idea, then the group was shit outta luck finding their friends. Straight forward, out. Of. Luck. Arin waved his hand for him to continue on; still breathing in her cancer stick like it would save her life. Cure cancer instead of cause it. This made Arin laugh, well, in her head. And, only shortly. Bitterly. She knew she wouldn't be _really _laughing until she had her boys' back. Her friends. Her pals. Her buds. Steve nodded his head as he caught everyone's attention. Good opening sentence is what he told himself.

"Alright, so, I was thinkin'-" Two-bit cut Steve off with a laugh, shaking his head and lighting up his own cancer stick.

"Oh, glory, Steve's been thinkin'. We best watch our backs." He chuckled, shaking his head and running a hand through his greasy hair. Arin shot him a glare.

"Oh, shut up already Two-bit. Before I go over there and burn your mouth shut. You dig?" She snapped at him, pointing the butt of her cigarette at him as if to prove she wasn't kidding. Two-bit held up a hand defensively, and Steve continued on after a few seconds.

"So, we'll all go visit them in that home o'their's, you know what I mean?" They all nodded, and Steve continued. "Well, you know, we all go visit them in there and Two-bit'll cause some kind of distraction. Because, we all know how good the jerk is at it. When the fuzz ain't lookin', we hurry and grab Pony and Soda and then we bust 'em out. Who's in?"


End file.
